Thunderstorm
by UmbraTsuki
Summary: AU. Axel and Larxene are left alone in a hotel room  while their friends go out. And get a tornado warning! Nothing mature happens.


"We're going to go get some food~!" Demyx called as he grabbed his jacket out of the closet. The temperature wasn't that low, but Demyx seemed to be one who got cold easily.

"You don't have to yell, I'm right here!" Larxene complained angrily, getting up from the computer she'd been sitting at and putting her hand on her hip. She turned to Cloud, who was much easier to talk to. Less annoying. "So you're going, too?"

"Yeah," Cloud nodded. "We shouldn't be too long."

"I hope not," Larxene said in a voice loud enough for Axel, lounging in a seat across the room, could hear. She loved teasing him. "I wouldn't want to be stuck with _pyro boy_ for that long!"

'Pyro boy' was Larxene's nickname for Axel. Everyone knew of his amusement at fire. In fact, all four of them had some weird obsession. Larxene loved thunderstorms, Demyx was absorbed in aquatic activities and animals, and Cloud seemed to like crazy hairstyles. In fact, Axel's impossibly spiked hair had been Cloud's idea one day..

"Shut up," Axel fought a grin as he threw a pillow across the room at her. It spun, like a frisbee, and would have hit her if she didn't duck at that moment.

"Well, we're leaving," Cloud declared, hiding his amusement at the two. "Don't go anywhere."

Larxene smirked. "There's nowhere to go. Plus we have the anime convention tomorrow, anyway." She crossed her arms. Maybe it was because of the fact that she was wearing a short sleeved blue t-shirt, but she _was_ rather cold. Winter was on its way...she definitely hated the season. "See ya."

"Bye!" Demyx seemed excited, as usual, and soon closed the door behind himself and Cloud.

"Yeah..." Larxene shook her head. "I'm sure he'll give Cloud quite a challenge. Anyway, I'm gonna go change into some warmer clothes. Stay here."

Axel rolled his emerald green eyes. "I have no interest in leaving. I'll just watch the news or something."

Larxene grabbed some denim jeans and a long-sleeved shirt from her bag, and glanced at the TV Axel was now watching. News channel 5, always so exciting. "I'm glad you have good taste in entertainment," Larxene commented, sarcastically. "Be right back." She headed into the bathroom before Axel could say another word.

The redhead just shrugged and turned back to the TV. There was news about the weather...rain...storms...tornadoes..."Tornadoes, hm?" Axel looked blankly at the screen for a moment when suddenly the room phone rang. Axel sighed and went over to pick it up.

"Hello?"

"There's a tornado warning across the western side of the county," whoever this lady on the other side of the phone line was, she was talking quickly. The only words Axel got out of that were 'tornado' and 'county'. "You're in a room on ground level, so just get into the bathroom right by the counter, or in the bathtub. There should be a portable radio and flashlight under the TV, set the radio to 128.5. Don't leave until you hear another phone call!"

The phone line quickly went dead. Axel was still trying to gather his thoughts, and glanced over at the TV. "Huh...both tornado warnings, so maybe it's a coinc-" Finally, his thoughts clicked. He'd just been watching what may have been the same news station that alerted the hotel of the tornado warning. As if to say 'Duh!', the TV news program was interrupted by a tornado warning broadcast...thing.

"Ahh...this is bad," Axel scratched his head. He went to the cabinets under the TV set to get the mentioned radio and flashlight, and walked toward the bathroom. Totally forgetting what Larxene had gone in there for, he opened the door. "Hey, Larxene, there's-"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Larxene screamed. She was standing there in only jeans and a bra, and her face quickly grew red. Axel immediately turned around, not wanting to be killed by the woman. She grabbed the nearest shirt - which happened to be her short-sleeved shirt rather than the long-sleeved one - and quickly put it back on.

"S-sorry.." Axel murmured, staring at the wall across from him as he waited.

With a huff, Larxene sat on the rim of the bathtub and glared at the...toilet. Looking at Axel would be way too embarrassing, not that Larxene would ever admit that.. "You can turn around now," Larxene's voice was sharp. "What the hell were you THINKING?"

Reluctantly, Axel turned back toward the pissed off girl. "Uh..." he paused, then remembered the flashlight and radio that were in his hands. "Right. There's a tornado warning. We're supposed to sit in the bathtub and wait while listening to the radio or something."

Larxene glared at him.

"Er - not like that," Axel said, feeling his own face grow hot. "Just - really. Tornado procedures and such."

"Fine," Larxene sighed. Stupid tornado.

Eventually they worked out, well somewhat, that Axel would be sitting by the water controls, and Larxene would sit on the other side, both facing the other. Not that it was a very big bathtub...they both had to practically hug their knees to their chests for their to be enough room.

"Oh and by the way, if you turn the water on and ruin my outfit, you're dead," Larxene declared.

How typical.

After about five long, and not to mention boring, minutes, Axel finally remembered to turn the radio on. "High winds and heavy storming are now completely covering Brasen county, along with the tornado fiercely cutting across Lukkerg toward the west side of Brasen..."

"Turn it down," Larxene complained. Axel obliged...by turning it off.

The silence that followed was rather excruciating. Not that much could be done about it. Both Axel and Larxene deliberately tried not to look the other in the eye, so they found themselves looking...around the bathroom.

So it was just glorious when the power went out and they were trapped in complete darkness.

"Shit," Larxene cursed under her breath as she accidentally hit her head against the shower wall. "What - where's the flashlight you had?"

"Umm..." Axel didn't have it in his _hands_... "On the counter."

"You idiot," Larxene snapped. "Go get it."

Like that were the easiest thing in the world. Axel managed to step over the edge of the bathtub and to solid ground, but then found that he didn't know the distance between himself and the counter. He took small steps, holding his arms out in front of him, trying to find the counter. That made Axel glad the lights were out - at least Larxene didn't _see_ him looking like an idiot.

After making it to the counter and finding the flashlight, getting back was much easier. He turned the light on and found his way back much more quickly. When he took a seat, he noticed that Larxene seemed to be crying...

"Don't point that in my eyes," Larxene ordered. "I want light, but that's _too_ direct."

Axel saw no reason to argue against that. She probably just didn't want him to see her crying, anyway.

More silence. At least they had light...but the room grew colder. _Right, we have no heat anymore, the electricity is off..._ Larxene thought with a sigh. "Axel. Did you leave the window open?"

"I...no," Axel lied. He actually did recall opening the window before Demyx and Cloud had left, and he hadn't closed it again..

"Well, it's still cold in here," Larxene stated the obvious.

Axel nodded. Not that he noticed, much - he was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt and warm khaki cargo pants, plus he didn't easily get cold anyway. But he was aware that the temperature was lower than it had been ten minutes earlier.

"Why don't you put that other shirt on over the one you're wearing, now?" Axel asked, noticing that Larxene was wrapping her arms around herself. Was it really that cold?

"You know I hate layering clothes, like that," Larxene complained. "It's so weird." Leave it to a _girl_ to complain about fashion in that kind of situation..

"Suit yourself," Axel shrugged. And, involuntarily, his mouth projected the rest of the words he'd thought of. "You _could_ come over and sit with me...I'm not cold."

When he realized what he'd just said, he expected to get yelled at again. Instead, Larxene was simply relieved that it was too dark for Axel to see her blushing.

"Why would I do that?" Larxene questioned. Actually, the thought didn't disgust her as much as she thought it should. The cold must have been getting to her.

"Well, that, have _'weird'_ fashion, or stay cold," Axel shrugged.

"F-fine," Larxene snapped. "But it's because _I'm_ cold, not because _you_ want to."

_Who said I wanted to..?_ Axel thought, but he kept quiet.

They finally arranged a situation that ended up being Larxene sitting on Axel's lap, and him wrapping his arms around her stomach-area so that she wouldn't slip. It felt awkward, but strangely a bit comfortable, though Larxene wouldn't admit that to anyone, and barely to herself.

"So...you weren't crying earlier, were you?" Axel decided to ask. Why not?

"No.." Larxene lied. She actually felt a bit...scared at the thought of a tornado occurring, but of course she wouldn't admit that. "Why would I have been?"

"Just checking," Axel responded.

"Are _you_ planning on crying?"

"No."

Silence came upon the two again. The room only grew colder, and Larxene's body subconsciously adjusted itself to the warmth of Axel's, so that she herself could keep warm.

A sudden thunder crash caused Larxene to make some kind of yelp, as she automatically turned herself towards Axel more.

"I thought you loved thunder," Axel's eyes rolled. He was surprised at Larxene, for once.

"I-I do," Larxene stated. Still, she didn't turn away, and was slightly curled, resting her head on Axel's shoulder. "It just startled me.."

Axel chuckled a little bit. "You know, you're being kind of cute. Not like you at all!"

"Shut up," Larxene commanded, and she would have kicked him if there was more room. Probably. "You're just scared of the tornado, aren't you?"

Axel grinned. She was definitely acting out-of-the-ordinary. "Why would I be scared of the tornado when you're here in comparison?" The two often seemed to tease each other, so things were _starting_ to seem normal again..

"Hah," Larxene smirked. "You scare easily, right?" She leaned back a bit, trying to get somewhat of a view of Axel's face, even though there wasn't much light.

"You're talking to someone who loves fire," Axel reminded. "How's it possible for me to scare easily?"

"Oh, right, pyro boy," Larxene rolled her eyes. "You're stupid and like to play with fire. You're gonna get burned!"

"Says the girl who loves thunderstorms. And then gets scared of them."

"Yeah, right! I told you, I was just -" the electricity and lights chose that moment to come back on. "...startled. Well, at least we have power back."

"Sure, but it'll still be cold for a while," Axel held back a grin. He was rather enjoying his time with Larxene...much to his surprise.

"Hah, whatever," but Larxene didn't move from Axel's lap, anyway. "You just don't want to be alone since you're scared, right?"

"You wish," Axel studied Larxene's face a bit. Was it just his imagination, or did she get prettier?

"Why would I wish that?" Larxene questioned. The faces of the two were slowly drawing closer to each other, though they didn't realize this..

"Because _you_ don't want to be alone."

"Oh shut up," Larxene's eyes rolled again. Were all guys so strange?

"Want me to prove it?" he challenged.

"Try," Larxene doubted he could, but -

"Okay," Axel then closed whatever distance was left between his and Larxene's lips.

But as a lovely reminder to us all, even if you're alone with someone, that doesn't mean other things in life can't interfere. And Axel was reminded of this when, at that moment, the phone started ringing.

Axel sighed, leaning away from Larxene.

Speechless, Larxene stood up,exiting the bathtub and nodding. When Axel was gone, it gave her time to think. It hadn't occurred to her that she might be _attracted_ to him...but what happened just then had perked her interest in him by, well, a lot.

Axel came back soon. "Okay, don't tell me you didn't enjoy that, because I know I did," a hint of a smile was visible on Axel's face.

"Riiiggghhttt..." Larxene gave another eye roll. "Enjoy _what_?"

"You know what I'm talking about," Axel stepped closer, looking straight at Larxene. It made her feel a bit uncomfortable...but not too much.

"What if I don't?" Larxene teased, now smiling slyly.

"I'll have to remind you."

Axel stepped forward, placing one hand under Larxene's chin to tilt her head upward as he pressed his lips to hers. This time, it seemed, the two were lucky enough not to have any interruptions. The kiss felt a bit more...complete.

Larxene was the one who broke it. "Hey, well, we can continue later or something," Larxene said, lightly pushing Axel's face away with her hand. She leaned back against the counter and looked up at him. "So what was the phone call for?"

"Tornado warnings are over," Axel crossed his arms. He felt kind of glad for a subject change, even if he _did_ enjoy what just passed. "And the storm's almost gone, too."

"Finally," Larxene scoffed.

There was a knock on the hotel room door, then, followed by a shout of "We're back! Let us in!" from Demyx.

Larxene let out a short, small laugh before getting the door. "Oh _wow_, you two. You're soaked! Axel, hand them some towels."

"Why me?" the redhead asked, even though he grabbed some off the towel rack as he spoke.

"Because I told you to," Larxene had a self-satisfied smile on her face. Turning back to Cloud and Demyx, she continued to bark orders. "You two dry off. Did you even know about the tornado warning? You're such idiots, you could've been dead! And take your coats off, we have a heater.."

_Back to normal now, huh?_ Axel thought. But he remembered the kiss...es, and the past hour or so with Larxene. They'd definitely been...fun. Axel decided that he might see if she'd be interested in a more-than-friends relationship...

"Axel!" Larxene half-shouted. "You forgot to close the window!" She gave him a push, causing him to almost fall over. Still, he went to close the window.

He'd see if she wanted a relationship...that is, if she didn't kill him, first.


End file.
